


Opening of the Gates

by AikoIsari



Series: Bent, But Unbroken [2]
Category: Digimon - All Media Types, Digimon NEXT, Digimon Savers | Digimon Data Squad, Digimon World Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Bisexual Female Character, Blood, Canon-Typical Violence, Deaf Character, Gen, Homophobia, Parallel Universes, Permanent Injury, Prosthesis, Superpowers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-21
Updated: 2015-05-31
Packaged: 2018-03-14 10:25:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3407213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AikoIsari/pseuds/AikoIsari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(DS/OC) Post-Savers. Five years ago, the Digimon attacked, and left as quickly as they arrived. Now, mysterious disasters have begun to creep into the news once again. Nia Scott thinks this has nothing to do with her, and plenty to do with her friends. That is, until her classmates shove her into a computer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Is There Something I Can Do?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [reminiscence](https://archiveofourown.org/users/reminiscence/gifts).



> Okay, I have decided to post this now. Yus. Well, this is my DS rewrite, with some hints of Next canon, but if you don't know the DS game, take it as a post-Savers (and NEXT, though you don't need to have read that either) fic, as the canon characters will be making multiple appearances in this world. I promise everything will become clear, fun, and probably full of action!

**Prologue: Is There Something I Can Do?**

_Once upon a time, a world ended._

_It ended in not a murmur, but in screams. Its occupants screamed against it. Its heroes tried to fight it._

_Once upon a time, a world ended._

_Long ago, this world was trapped in a war. Long ago, creatures named Digimon fought for their right to live. Long ago, Digimon fought so not all of them would have to die._

_Once before, humans and Digimon worked together to become strong. Digimon evolved and humans fought battles. These humans were called Tamers. However, to the humans, this was nothing more than a game, a past time to play with their friends._

_A long time ago, for the world, it became very real._

_For the host program, Yggdrasil, it was always real, and, in desperation, it sent its consciousness to the human world to believe once more._

_To the world itself, that seemed like it wasn't enough, and thus the war raged._

_It continued, on and on, until the heroes allowed themselves to shine._

_Their hearts gave them a victory, and from that victory came a new world. It was up to the inhabitants to decide what to do with it._

_Once upon a time, a world ended, and a new world began, as it often does..._

-From the data archives of Andromon, former overseer of Light City

* * *

The weight of the key in his hand kept him grounded.

The angel walked, he did not fly, for to fly would be to bring notice, and so many hungered for the key that he could not risk it, could not risk himself.

His Majesty, the Goddess, would not allow it, no matter his crimes.

So he walked, through the deserted trees and past the tiny river into another portal, and then another. His feathers drooped, but the angel did not falter. He would know his purpose when he came to it.

He would not falter or complain. This was his punishment, for all of the blood on his hands. For all of the wrongs.

The Key shivered in his hands, but he did not drop it, not even when its golden glow hurt his eyes. He raised it, turned it for a keyhole that wasn't there. The surroundings shifted at the imperceptible click, opening to a world of... nothing.

"Am I back at the castle?"

System World had once looked like this, without feature or feeling. But it was long past being like that now. So where was he?

"NEO?" He called. There was no answer. Though why would he? He had returned to sleep.

"Oh, a new face. Haven't had one of those in a long while."

The angel turned, raising his key like a sword. Who he saw was a human, grizzled grey hair falling over his head. The man grinned, expression wizened and worn. He laughed. "Slow down, young sir. Do I look like I could cause you any trouble?"

For a moment, ClavisAngemon kept his weapon raised. Then he chuckled and lowered it. "Forgive me, but I've met humans who  _look_  harmless but are quite terrifying."

The old man laughed again, a creak of a sound like a broken door hinge. "Humans can be remarkably destructive when we want to be. As you can be, I presume." His eyes locked on to the key and drifted back to him. "My name is Kogure, or well, that's what everyone calls me anyway."

ClavisAngemon dipped his head. "I would say you can call me an angel of God, but I do feel that would be rather..." He smiled beneath his mask. " _Arrogant_  of me, wouldn't you say?"

"Arrogance is relative," Kogure said, shrugging his shoulders. "Stupidity is consistently blatant."

"Interesting conjecture." The angel shrugged his shoulders. I am ClavisAngemon, Digimon servant of the new Yggdrasil."

"The  _new_  Yggdrasil," Kogure repeated with a smile. "I'm afraid to ask what happened to the previous one if you are here and they are there, as the archangel you must be, servant of God."

"As I should ask why you are here, human." His tone teased, but his hand tightened once more upon the key.

Kogure shrugged, his fingers wrapping around an object that wasn't there. A cane, perhaps? "I was working at my computer. I work part-time as a software engineer, likely for your Digimon game."

"Only part?" ClavisAngemon bit his tongue to kep the other words from spilling out of his mouth. To so many humans, it was a mere game, a toy for children. For the children, it had been very real, and perhaps that was why…

No, that had been the mistake, the true one.

Kogure's smile widened. "Only part. I was working on a side project. My granddaughter loves computer games. She's beaten every one I've given her."

" _Our_  game, as well?" Clavis Angemon found his eyes wandering the plane they stood upon. A noise. There was a noise in this void like a winding gear. Looking for its source, he almost didn't see his current companion shake his head.

"She barely had it for a day before a classmate threw it into the nearby river." Kogure let out a sigh. "Never asked for one again, after that. Though she loved it, I think." He paused. "She rather thought it was real."

"We  _are_  real." It was a rather childlike statement, but Kogure only nodded at it.

"Oh yes," he said softly. "You are. Your messengers proved that. Made it very clear."

For a moment, they were silent. ClavisAngemon did not like to think of the Royal Knights.

Then ClavisAngemon tipped his head, hearing that sound again. "Would you accompany me for a moment? I wish to investigate that noise."

"Well, it would be better than stagnating here, wouldn't it?" Kogure cracked his back and followed, and ClavisAngemon gripped his weapon tightly.

Perhaps his investigations would feel fruitful at long last.

* * *

In a forest full of totem poles and trees, in an area that a certain ClavisAngemon had most recently been, a cupid awoke from sleep. It yawned and looked at the blue sky lined with binary. "At last," he said softly. "At last. It's almost time."

He watched a knight clothed in black slice the air and the Digimon, the children of the area, flock to him. He watched as the archangel and the human appeared from the heavens with a bundle in the angel's arms, and the fear rising in so many eyes.

He watched all of this, and did not comprehend any of it. None of it was truly real for him, none of it was actually of any importance.

For him, time didn't start until they _finally_  met.

Until that second chance.


	2. I Want to Know!

**Chapter One: I Want to Know!**

The fifteenth of June began rather abruptly for the individuals on recently grounded Flight 7934. Rather, their day began with a rain of fire.

Fortunately for them, they were not unaccustomed to said event, or at least variations of such. The pilot did not alter his course down the runway, though the copilot shivered in his seat, glancing towards the brakes with twitching fingers. Inside, the passengers moved quickly towards the various exits, much to the chagrin of the plane crew.

For Tohma H. Norstein in particular, the possibility of his own demise was nothing too awe-inspiring. He closed his book with care and placed it on the seat next to him. Rubbing his eyes, he looked out one of the many windows and shook his head. "This is a bit of an expressive range for a mere Meramon."

"It's likely to be a Birdramon, master," murmured a low voice from in his pocket.

Tohma looked out the window again, blue eyes looking through the clouds for a glimpse of orange wings. "Well, in any case, there is no reason to keep him waiting, is there?"

If it was a Birdramon, there was more to worry about than its fireballs.

"Tohma-sama," one of the attendants began as he unbuckled his seatbelt, his lips almost bitten raw. "I must insist you remain in your seat before the pilot stops. If he has to press the emergency brakes-" She almost screamed as the pilot did so,gripping one of the empty headrests. Tohma moved to stand, but another man caught her gently by the arm.

"My dear, are you quite all right?" The elderly man helped her stand and glanced at Tohma himself. "The emergency exits are being deployed. Shall we begin disembarking at this time?"

Tohma turned his gaze out once more and shook his head. "Allow me to grab their attention, if you don't mind. Use us as a cover to reach the airport. Please make sure to speak to the security and media staff."

Norman dipped his head in a minute bow. "As you wish, sir."

Tohma mentally let out a sigh. He had been deployed to assist in locating that long-missing researcher's old files. While he had packed the materials necessary for the field, it was rather... inconvenient to have to dig them out. He supposed that even years later, the fieldwork wasn't just going to up and disappear.

"Shall we, Gaomon?"

"Yes, master."

* * *

The day was as usual.

Wake up, wash her face, and dry it carefully to put in her eye. Nia didn't think about it. She merely combed her auburn hair around her ears, making sure to wet it down with her fingers. She didn't pay any attention to anything unusual, except only to shield it with her bangs and to cover the aids in her ears.

After all, it looked like it was going to rain today.

Check her email, nothing new. Just that years old email with a reply that had bounced back.

She glanced at the window again and stretched. "Today's art club... I need to get ready."

Colored pencils, sketchbook, pens, cheap compared to hospital bills, cheap compared to everything else.

Honestly, it'd be easier to just lock herself up in her room for the rest of her life.

But she couldn't do that.

With another shrug, Nia pulled on the bit snug dress shirt, and the (too short!) skirt, and left the room.

"Morning, Shinichi-san," she said as she passed the living room area. The man reached out and mussed her hair, causing her to giggle. She looked around the quiet apartment, expecting a giggling figure poking at the fish tank or the smell of fried shrimp. "Papa went out with Hi-chan?"

He nodded, folding his paper. "Shiori-sensei had to reschedule so they went early. Hiroki wasn't happy."

Nia giggled. "I bet." She tapped the aids in her ears. "Did Papa remember cleaner and batteries too?"

Shinichi glanced at the refrigerator. "Nope, I'll get those for you today after work." He turned and raised his hands, signing her a question.

Nia raised her hands and signed back before tutting. "Shinichi-san, you're not my doctor anymore!" Not that she didn't mind the practice, just because her teachers rarely used it didn't mean she didn't need it.

He laughed and mussed her hair up again, slightly large hands tugging at a ruined curl. "That's true. Now, go on, grab your lunch before you're late."

Nia pouted. "Oh-kay." She didn't want to go to school.

Shinichi pulled her phone from its charging cradle. "Don't forget this."

"Un!" She hurried out the door, bento stuffed under one arm. On one steel loop of her backpack, a plastic toy swung, its cracked screen flickering blue.

Nia had stopped paying it any mind a long time ago. It's always done that since its fall into the river.

As she ran, her hearing aids hissed with static. She fiddled with a remote knob and a woman's voice chimed into her ears from one of the nearby televisions.

_"At seven-fifteen this morning, there was an engine fire at Tokyo Airport. It was believed to have been caused by a freak thunderstorm that is making its way across the area. As of this report, there have been only minor injuries. No passengers were harmed during this event. Citizens are advised to remain indoors as much as possible and keep their ears open for any shelter alarms…"_

"Another 'freak storm', huh?" Nia tuned her aids away from the radio station, once again fully aware of the noise murmuring around her as she waited for the light to change. "Grandpa would love hearing about the 'freak storms'..."

He'd been gone for so long though... for work, they said... work didn't make him any less missing, did it?

A melancholy smile crossed her face and then she swallowed it. Nia slapped her cheeks. "No, gotta be brave for Grandpa… for when he comes back. Can't let them get to me. I can't!"

As she entered her school's campus, however, Nia knew that was more easily said than done.

* * *

When the lunch bell rang, Nia didn't immediately get up and bolt to the canteen, like most of the others. She packed her things away slowly, knowing better than to leave her bag in the room anymore. She felt the eyes on the back of her neck more than she heard the sound of laughter, but paid it very little attention.

_Batteries are dying... do i have a marker with me...I have to do math first... English is posted online...the new Jump comes out today..._

"Nia, why are you still in here?"

The two snickering fell abruptly silent and Nia roused herself from her thoughts, hearing the voice from the other side of the room like a watered down echo.

"Oh," she murmured, realizing she had scribbled all of that nonsense onto her algebra notes. "Sorry, did I take too long, Chika-chan?"

The whisper was lightning. "Listen to her, sounds like a donkey."

She bit her tongue. Ignore them, nothing unusual...

Daimon Chika glared, brown pigtails bouncing. "What was that?" She snapped, stalking into the room like a bird of prey. Nia almost giggled. But if she did, it would be so much worse. So she kept her face blank as possible, grabbing her things and rising to her feet. "You're gonna have to speak up," Chika continued. "I have a delinquent for an older brother, we weren't raised to mumble."

They all stared, what few kids were in the room, and the two snickering girls fell silent, the third looking away.

Chika almost smirked. "That's what I thought. Come on, Nia."

Nia nodded and went after her, resisting the reflexive urge to slouch and slink her way out of the room. She managed to keep her head held high until they were out of sight, at which point her shoulders sagged in relief. "Thanks, Chika-chan."

"You really need to stand up to them more."

Nia managed a weary giggle. "I know, I know…"

It was probably easier for Chika to say. She was brave. Nia was just a coward. Saying that was also Chika's way of worrying about her. At least, Nia hoped it was.

"Is Ikuto-kun already outside?"

Chika nodded. "He got a phone call, otherwise he'd have been your knight in shining armor."

Nia giggled again and rolled her eyes. "If he's anybody's knight, he's yours."

Chika laughed. "Yeah, a bog knight maybe..."

Nia tapped her fingers behind her ears. "Bog knights can be dashing too."

The two of them laughed again and Nia felt the tension ease from her shoulders. She wasn't so bad off. She had friends, and her family was good. Things were good.

"So, did our English teacher say it right this time?"

Nia blushed. "J-Just because my mother is British d-doesn't mean I'm always able to tell, Chika-chan…"

"Yeah, that means he didn't," Chika mused. "What was it, the "L and R" sounds?"

"He did say it right!"

By the time they made it to the rooftop, Ikuto was clicking off his phone and paused dramatically over his food. "I was wondering if you'd decided today was a good day to take your brother's ideas and break the walls with their heads." Nia wasn't sure what was more amusing to him, the idea of heads hitting walls or Chika being the one to do it.

"Do I look like I have the strength?" Chika said with a snort, sitting next to him and pulling out her lunch. Nia smiled at Ikuto and Ikuto gave her a small nod, rolling his eyes at Chika. She'd always felt a little closer to him than Chika, he understood being an outcast a lot better than their friend, and didn't push about making it work.

It also helped that they transferred in at the same time.

"So, what'd he say?" Chika paused, chewing on a piece of shrimp. She passed them both small containers off eggs, which caused Ikuto to almost break his dark face with his smile. He made himself put it down, tugging on the cuffs of his school jacket. "He fly in okay?"

Ikuto nodded, picking at a piece of the tile. "He said there was a little delay in getting off the plane, but once he and Relena have dropped off their things and rested off the jet lag, they should be here."

"Oh, Tohma-san dealt with the 'freak storm' today." Nia let her voice drift, smiling at the shocked looks on their faces. "There was an engine fire at the airport today because of a storm. I figured it was something like that again."

"They just didn't want to admit it was them, then." Chika rubbed her eyes. "Politics."

"Never do," Ikuto said with a sigh. He looked wistfully towards his belt. "Falcomon..."

Chika looked sympathetic and Nia felt a burst of envy. Her friends, they had gotten to have a Digimon, even if it was just for a moment. All she'd gotten to do was watch through corners. They had been real for them, right down to the bad stuff. She glanced at the old toy on her bag, and its cracked screen flickered again, almost like it heard her thoughts.

"Dad's working on something with the Digivices," Chika said suddenly and they turned to look at her. "He's almost done analyzing yours, Ikuto-kun. It's more difficult to make a Digivice like yours in the human world, so it's taking longer. But!" She grinned. "He's about ready to finalize blueprints, which means he might be able to make them again without running off to the Digital World. If he does that, then he can start making them by hand again. Maybe, Nia can have one too. After all," She reached out and patted Nia's head. "You're pretty involved too."

Ikuto groaned. "Chika, don't encourage her."

Nia just remained quiet, taking that all in. "I could find Grandpa with that, huh?"

"It's possible," Chika said and Ikuto groaned again.

"Chika!" He sighed. "Don't... don't open old wounds like that."

Chika rolled her eyes at him. "Ikuto-kun, it's not like we won't be there."

"You've never been in the Digital World before. It's different. Things always change and don't make sense!" Ikuto's voice had taken on a warm tone as he spoke, almost nostalgic. He shook himself. "Anyway, she needs family permission. And so do you. And so do I, for that matter."

Chika swelled and Nia tuned them out. They were both right, probably. All she had ever seen of Digimon and the Digital World was the sky over her head and the monsters wreaking havoc. Nothing but destruction. But even so…

" _Look, Nia, this is a Digimon."_

" _Like those creatures in the sky?"_

" _Exactly."_

" _It's so small…"_

" _That's why you have to care for it. These won't be able to grow without you."_

Nia curled her fingers around the keychain toy. Then she yelped and drew her hand back. The two turned and Nia waved her hand. "Hot, hot," she squeaked. "My k-keychain!" The other two turned, watching her blow on her hand. "My Digimon pet is..."

"Maybe the battery finally decided to blow up..." Ikuto muttered, moving to examine her hand. "No burns though..."

"You really need to learn not to say morbid things like that so casually," Chika said, giving him an elbow to the ribs. She peered at the keychain. "Neh, Ikuto-kun, do you recognize that symbol there?"

"The thing was dropped in a river, it can't show anything-" Ikuto paused, gingerly raising a finger to touch the red plastic. He winced but felt no heat. Peering at the screen, he grimaced. "Oh..."

"Ikuto-kun?" Nia and Chika peered at him, the former's hand pain forgotten. The odd image pulsed on the cracked screen, each briefly going a sickly red. Just watching them made Nia's hands ache.

Then it faded away, leaving only the multicolored, waterlogged screen behind.

Ikuto's brow furrowed. "Ne, Chika, I think I know what that symbol is… but I want to confirm with Tohma before I say anything. Just be careful with it for now, okay Nia?"

Nia frowned. "You're letting me hang onto it?"

Ikuto sighed, as if reluctant to say yes. "Your grandfather gave you that, so it's probably important to you." His amber eyes darkened somewhat. "I don't want to take something like that away. Besides, Tohma will be here in a few hours. He'd know what to do with it better than I would. Just meet us after club today and we'll get him to look."

"Waah, look at you, so humble," Chika joked with a giggle.

Ikuto flushed. "I-I know what I'm not good at, all right?"

Chika smiled and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

Nia replaced the keychain with wary fingers, turning away to offer them some privacy.

She put the device out of her mind and went back to her lunch, tuning back in at the sight of a flying apple slice. It was a gift from Grandpa, who knew what it could do?

_Maybe it will find him for me._

* * *

"Ah! Done!" Nia rubbed her hands together, putting the tablet pen down with relief. "It hurts!"

"You're the one who sat that still for almost an hour," said the captain of the art club. Yuki leaned over her shoulder to see the screen. "Not bad. Mind printing it so I can make some drafts? I'm sure she'll do great in the story."

Nia flushed and shook her head. "I-I was just following your suggestions..." Her fingers traced the pocket of her bag where she had left the keychain. She'd muffled it with her books after it had started to squeak. Of course, those people had laughed, but they always laughed.

Yuki gave her a worried look. "Expecting a phone call?"

Nia blinked, then smiled. "Yeah, actually." She packed up her sketchpad and the rest of her supplies. "I should go and print this out…" Chika and Ikuto were taking a while… though that may just be because she had said to… ooh,  _why_  had she said that…?

"Let me know if the news says anything interesting while you're down there!"

Nia shook her head and left. Her senior's idea of interesting was the weather report, and it was still supposed to rain. She made her way to the computer lab, flash drive spinning between her fingers. She peeked into the empty lab, then went to a computer. While her file loaded, she obediently flicked through the news. "Ah, someone got pictures of a giant shiba inu!" She frowned. "Didn't Tohma-san's partner look like a dog?" She clicked again. " _New Digital Doom…_ " Nia skimmed this article, then frowned. "Conspiracy theorists are weird…"

She went through her email, letting the picture print in the back of the room. "Mm… nothing as always…" Nia glanced at the lone email from her grandfather and then sighed. "Neh, Papa is worried about you... " she said to the message. "When are you coming home?"

"Maybe they'll come home when you stop talking to yourself."

Nia winced. She really shouldn't have gotten distracted. From the door, Yumi gave her a helpless shrug, like she always did, which went pointedly ignored by the other two. They wore no stereotypical evil grin, or any grimfaced thugs. Aoi and Miyu were infamously unpleasant when they wanted to be, but without an audience, this was where they shined.

Miyu smiled. "Neh, were you doing another drawing for Yuki-kun? He's cute, isn't he?"

Nia didn't answer. Her fingers curled around her bags. Honestly, she could hit Miyu and bolt back to the art room, but Yuki wanted the printout. She couldn't just say no.

"Or maybe it's his sister you're after, she's supposed to be  _super_  cute." Miyu paused. "Oh, but isn't she in college?"

Nia felt her face burn. "I-I don't like Yuki-kun o-or his sis-sister," she managed. "I don't think we can say the s-same for you."

Miyu's eye twitched but her collected smile bloomed forth again quickly enough. "No, that's right, you like the boyish girls, don't you? So you can delude yourself into thinking it's a boy, right?"

Nia's fingers started to hurt with how much they were digging into the straps of her bag. "L-Leave Chika-chan alone…" The words were feeble, practically bait to be swallowed.

Aoi snorted. "Can't when she won't leave us alone. What do ya do that her hero friend over there can't? Lock her in a stall?"

Nia took a deep breath and stood. She could tune them out. She should have done that in the first place. She went to the printer and rolled up the sheet. Aoi muttered something and Miyu giggled.

"Yeah, yeah, exactly. Nia, you shouldn't be so rude. We're trying to help."

Nia ignored them, closing the window on the computer screen with trembling fingers. She was in so much of a hurry that she didn't notice she clicked a small window open, or the symbol that was on it. But when it didn't close, she paused, roused from her stupor of ignoring the girls into bemusement. She clicked it again, and again, and the more she clicked, the brighter the middle circle seemed to glow. None of them noticed the high pitched whirring noise coming from Nia's bag.

Aoi marched forward then. "It's rude to ignore people when you're talking to them- hey guys, look! The freak broke it."

Nia felt sick. She kept clicking, panic filling her stomach with dread. Had she really broken it?

"What is that?" Miyu muttered, shoving Nia to take a better look.

Most likely, this gesture was meant to knock her into the table or chair. Unfortunately, it shoved her head first towards the computer monitor. The second her left cheek touched the screen, however, both computer and girl lit up blue.

So did the toy in Nia's bag, the whirring noise having gone up to a near frantic howling. It floated itself from the pocket, the symbol from before flashing rhythmically red on the broken screen.

Pain raced up tNia's spine and the other three barely managed to look at each other before the light covered them, turning a cold crimson.

Seconds later, they were gone, leaving only their school things behind.

* * *

The angel flew, dancing in the sky. Euphoria tickled every wing feather as he danced through the wind.

"Finally!" he sang out! "It's today, it's today, finally, yay!" He felt his heart fluttering and the pain racing up his arm was just so worth it. "You're close, you're close, you're mine!"

"You're here, Nia, you're finally here for me!"

He wasn't alone anymore; Lucemon knew he would never be alone again.

* * *

" _New emergence incoming! Quantity of four, standby for coordinates."_

The announcement blared over the intercom, prompting Yuji to look away from the tune ups of his digivice. Agumon was giving him irritable looks anyway.

"Four's a pretty high one, huh Professor?"

Kogure shrugged a little. "It is, but nothing we can't handle."

Yuji saluted through messy locks of blue hair. "Don't worry, sir. I'll bring them back safe and sound. I'll just round up Euno and the sibs, then?" They'd probably need a crew, half to keep the kids from running off, half to bring them back. He'd rather go himself, but his partners weren't exactly comforting types.

"I think that team will do nicely, actually. You're getting the hang of this whole 'competent decisions' idea." Kogure went quiet as he scanned the readings for a few more seconds. "Coordinates are appearing to be Steamy Jungle."

Yuji winced. "Ow…" He leaned to look. "Did too much data send them off course or something-" He jumped back, eyes wide. "The heck is that?"

The screen the old man looked at began to fill with patterns of red triangles, each flashing black for only milliseconds. In the middle of each, the circle glowed a gentle blood red.

"Get our wonderful guardian angel," Kogure ordered and Yuji hurried off, returning with the Digimon moments later. "May I ask you to tell me what this is?"

ClavisAngemon only examined it for a few seconds, then his shoulders sagged. "It is the sign of the Digital Hazard," he said. "It is an incredibly destructive power. If a Digimon is seen with it, many are advised to avoid it at all costs. If the data of that Digimon becomes corrupted, the Digital World may cease to exist."

Yuji's expression twisted with fear, something no one in the room had seen it do in the weeks since he had arrived. "D-Does anybody have any idea why it-it's showing up now?"

Kogure glanced at ClavisAngemon. "Yes, I would like to know the same… seeing as that's my granddaughter who might be falling right towards its source." His voice gave nothing away, but his grip on the chair said otherwise.

ClavisAngemon glanced around the room. "Yuji, hurry to intercept the emergence. I'll join you shortly. Kogure, prepare the medical bay."

Yuji bolted and ClavisAngemon spared the old man a momentary glance. "I will try to keep her alive."

"Try to keep all of them alive," The man countered. "They are still children."


	3. Because I Want to Be a Hero

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everyone! Working on the next chapter at this very moment. Hopefully it will be up on Friday like always. I know how busy I can get. Anyway, here goes everything! Thanks for your support!
> 
> I don't apologize for any Star Trek references.

_**Chapter Two: Because I Want to Be a Hero!** _

"Tohma, are you sure that it's the same symbol?"

Ikuto tried to keep up with Tohma, but one of the disadvantages of having been living in the wild for so long was malnutrition, and there was only so much that puberty could do to fix that.

Ikuto heard Chika's clipped shoe steps half a meter behind and winced. She was not happy. Though it was hard to be happy when someone you knew had something related to the Digital World on them somehow. On a broken toy, no less.

Also, it was  _Nia_. Nia, who had transferred with him and giggled at his stupid jokes and listened to every old story with as much attentiveness as Chika or his parents. She was his friend. He knew a lot about her.

All he knew about the Hazard was the trouble it brought.

"Your drawing was similar to what was on Dukemon's shield," Tohma replied, glancing about the halls as though the girl would pop up in one of the windows. "And MirageGaogamon has one as well. What do you know of that symbol?"

Ikuto hesitated to speak, unable to tell if this was an actual question or if he was just saying shook it off and explained. "It's a symbol of danger. Digimon are aware to avoid it if they can. It can corrupt the servers if they're not careful. Mercurymon... he warned me to stay away from those Digimon if I could."

"The Digital World is on more than one server," Tohma mused. "Considering the lack of transitions between areas, that would make sense, wouldn't it?"

Ikuto shook his head. "That's actually a partitioned hard drive thing. If it had to do with the servers, then we'd need portals to get to a different area, or... I think that they're called addresses. I never had to use them, so the Digital World was probably on one large server, but if there are other Digital Worlds, they're on different servers..." He looked up to see Tohma and Chika staring at him. He flushed. "What?"

Tohma quickly recovered, schooling his face into a smile. "Just a bit surprised. I knew you were more astute to the history of the Digital world than I am, but you've been brushing up on your computer skills, haven't you?"

Ikuto's flush ran up his face and down his neck. "A-after I came home, I wanted to learn how Mom and Dad made the Gate system and... about Gizumon." Chika took his hand and he smiled a bit. "I've learned a lot. Still, it's still hard to understand."

Tohma wasn't Masaru, but the approval in his eyes still warmed his heart, somehow. "You have. They would be proud." He paused. "Or in Masaru's case, proud with a hint of boredom."

Ikuto snorted. He couldn't deny that.

Tohma's Digivice beeped. "Onii-sama," chimed a soft voice. "The computer is picking up a strange reading from a few meters away. Is everything all right over there?"

Tohma saw nothing at first glance. "Relena, can you clarify?"

There was a pause, then she answered. "It appears to be Gate Energy... and something weird and red... Ikuto-san's Digivice is flashing from over here as well."

"Master!"

Gaomon's voice spurred Tohma into a run. "Chika-chan, Ikuto, which way to the nearest computers?"

Chika's eyes widened and she made a left. "Down a hallway here..." She stopped running and cursed. Creatively at that. "Those little bastards..."

"What is it?"

Chika fumed and then moved into the computer room, refusing to answer. "Ikuto-kun, Tohma-san, get in here!"Tohma glanced at Ikuto and entered the room. Four bags were dropped on the floor. On one monitor, a symbol flickered red. "That would be the Hazard Symbol."

As they watched, the symbol vanished, and a text box opened.

"Welcome to your new game plus," Ikuto read, rubbing his eyes as the box flickered on screen, clearly pleased with itself.

For a moment, they all stared. Then Tohma clicked his communicator. "Relena, contact the former commander. We have a few missing people on our hands."

"Y-yes!"

Tohma straightened, turning to Ikuto and Chika. "I want you to tell me anything you can about Nia. Then, we will contact her family." He looked around the room. "As well as the others'."

Chika nodded and Ikuto moved to the computer, hoping to examine it first for clues. "She left her browser open, those girls were probably bugging her as usual and she didn't log out..."

"Anything significant in particular on there?" Tohma had begun typing on his own cell phone.

Ikuto slicked through it. "Just the email from her grandfather. His name is Kogure Haruhiko. He disappeared a year after the Gates closed."

Tohma leaned to take a look. "Kogure... that rings a bell. He worked in the Austrian DATS branch on the testing system for recruits." He grimaced. "I believe this just became infinitely more complicated."

* * *

The first thing Nia was aware of was a great deal of pain.

The pain started with her hands, spiraling up and around like a slender carving knife for her skin. Her natural eye seared red and she had to shut them both, cringing in response.

The worst about the situation was the screaming. The screaming was banshees with little girl voices and she wanted to kick them in the head so they shut up and went away. That was a bad thought, she normally didn't have those. Well, no, she did. She had to, but she didn't  _like_  having them. She did like the idea of the screaming stopping though, that was true.

She managed to open her eyes to pitch black. As she squinted her eyes open, she began to see nothing but red in the dark. It shone brighter as she watched, until she saw more red than inky darkness. But the more vibrant the light became, the more the scream resounded in her ears. she tried to turn towards the source, to beg them for quiet, but the words balled themselves up in her throat.

A girl was burning.

Now that she was able to see, she was able to smell it too, the stink of incinerated meat. And all the person could do was keep on wailing.

In belated terror, Nia realized that the screaming girl was Miyu.

Her lunch roiled in her stomach.  _She's going to die!_  What was this, some sadistic kind of karma? Nobody deserved that, not for some words. She made to reach out and grab her, wanting to find the others, wanting to pray that they weren't like this, that they were all right and that when they got out of there, she could work with them to get Miyu to a hospital. She couldn't die.

They didn't deserve to die.

 _Oh, but wouldn't it be nice if they_ did.  _They'd leave me alone then… they probably want the same thing, right?_

When she managed to look, Nia had never felt so happy to see them unharmed until now.

Of course, they were semi-conscious and barely gasping out air but that was better than Miyu, so much better.

Better than her thoughts too.

That was the last thing she thought of before she smacked into the ground. Nia saw stars and whimpered. "Are we down?" she managed to croak.

Miyu had fallen silent. The other two didn't answer, rolling in pain.

Nia forced herself to her hands and knees, beginning to crawl to Miyu's side. She reached the girl, whose pale skin was now almost charcoal black. She wasn't screaming, but breathing harsh and slow, with a racing pulse. Her once kind of pretty black hair was now little more than crunchy wisps. Nia cringed and touched the skin. Miyu didn't stir.

Nia forced herself to her feet and started to look around. The air felt muggy, and her other eye began to mist. Vines and drooping trees were around them, mixed with the scuttling of many feet and soft noises like growls and yips.

"A... A jungle...?" The air even  _smelled_  damp. "How did we... get here?" Nia tapped her foot, rubbing her temples as she tried to find a path. "Ah!" She looked down at the ground and her eyes caught sight of something around her neck. "What's going on...what is this...?" She touched the device's screen and a familiar rush of pain shot up her fingers.

Nia yelped and let it drop back to her neck. As she stared, chewing her lip in pain, the symbol that had etched itself into her toy was now carving itself into her hands. And into the rest of her. It was running through her blood like an athlete, pounding, screaming, claws that forced themselves throuh. She started to cough, but swallowed the rising torrent in her throat. She took a few deep breaths, waiting for the pain to recede.

"Ow..." Aoi's rasp of a voice was even worse now, almost gone. "What the hell?... Miyu! Miyu, what happened?" Nia didn't look over at Miyu's charred form again. She was afraid that she would vomit. Aoi rounded on her. "Oi, did you-"

"No!" Nia felt the dread in her throat. She... she  _hadn't_ somehow... right? "The-there's no way I could have..."

Aoi glared at her for a moment more before Yumi managed to sit up. "We don't have time for this…," Yumi muttered, cracking her bones as she stood on stiff legs. "Where are we?"

"I dunno..." Aoi nudged Yumi in the side. "Help me with Miyu." She shot Nia a look. "Ya know, so she can't finish the job."

"Don't be an idiot!" Yumi snapped with more force than expected for her, ever. Nia almost jumped. "She can't do something this bad to someone. Not that you wouldn't deserve it anyway, not like we don't!"

Aoi puffed up and Nia was horribly reminded of a fat, angry cat. "Where do you get off suddenly getting a spine?"

"We're in an unknown place and Miyu is hurt," Yumi said with way more courage than Nia knew was even possible for the girl who usually sat and giggled awkwardly at the rude comments, if she giggled at all. "We don't have time for your alpha dog routine. We need her help as much as she needs ours. Besides, she has the thing around her neck. We don't." She pointed at the device at Nia's neck. "So help me with Miyu-chan and we're going to look around and find a place to keep her out of danger." She lifted her gaze to Nia, who looked uncomfortable. It wasn't easy to look your bullies in the eyes. "I'm sorry, Nia-chan, but you have that thing, whatever it is. Can you go and take a look around?"

Nia had never heard a better request. "S-Sure!" it was better than staying here, fretting. She had to help, be useful for once. She made her way up and moved out of the clearing. As she walked, the toy on her neck glowed softly. "Oh, what are you doing? You'll get someone on my back." It chirped. Nia almost sighed and kept walking. It was so hot... and damp. And gross. Today was horrible.

She heard the plants rustle and stopped. The noise came again and out hopped a green and white bunny rabbit, or something like it. Nia blinked, then her eyes widened. She knew what that was. How could she not?

_For weeks there was no sun, just continents. Continents and data streams and destruction. There hadn't really been much of a city by then, after all of the fighting from before, but she still saw them, some so tiny, bouncing around ruined houses with tear-stained faces._

"A Digimon..." it was a real one too. Flesh and blood and staring at her.

It cocked its head. "Oh, it's a human." It paused. "You shouldn't be here by yourself, ya know. Some of us don't think straight, especially on days like today." It lifted its ears. "What are you doin' here, runnin' a mission?"

Nia shifted. A mission? For what? "Um, my," She paused to think of a better word, because they weren't  _friends_. "My classmates and I were pulled in here somehow and one of them is hurt. Do you know a way out?"

The rabbit creature (Terriermon, she remembered) nodded. "Sure, I do. Everyone does. Just... uh... take me with you, all right? There's a couple of packs of Grizzmon chewin' each other up... I don't wanna stick around for the rest of it, ya know…?"

Nia racked her brain to remember what a Grizzmon was and her eyes widened. "Those things are running around right now?"

Terriermon nodded. "Ya mean ya missed 'em? Damn, you fell lucky. They're a buncha giant bears with claws everywhere in this place, they ain't exactly hard to find! But neither are you." It sniffed suddenly. "You smell a little burnt."

Nia, if she was a different person, would have cursed. Instead, she grabbed Terriermon by the ear and bolted back the way she had come.  _Don't scream,_ she begged the girls in her mind.  _Please don't scream. Please don't give away where you are._

Just as she thought that, a scream ripped through the air.

"Oh, that's bad," muttered the Terriermon from where he sat on her shoulder. "Nyeh, I can smell blood."

The closer we got, so did she. Impulse took her mind and she knelt and lifted some rocks into her shirt. Around her neck, the toy flashed.

The air cloyed, the scent of metal like mercury. Aoi was crouched on the ground, face streaked bloody and cheek ruined. Miyu was nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile a giant bear rose over the crumpled, mangled figure of Yumi. Nia felt her stomach churn at the sight of the bear's mouth oozing red.

Impulse made her send the first rock flying. It hit the tree and a grunt fell from the Grizzmon's wet lips. Nia trembled and ran out of his view, throwing again from the side. This too, missed, but it caught the Digimon's attention.

Terriermon yelped. "Run, girl, run!"

Nia did, just as the Grizzmon lunged for her head. She ducked and rolled, and the creature smashed into a tree, crushing it like a toothpick tower. She didn't stop, darting into the gap between vines.

 _Can't die here,_ she thought, still bolting, the other girls almost completely forgotten.  _Have to find grandpa, have to move, don't wanna die, not here..._

Her thoughts scattered further and she didn't realize the Grizzmon had caught up until she was sent flying into a tree. Blood and fluid rose in her throat and she spat them out, coughing for air. She tried to crawl, agony ripping through her torso. Her vision was starting to blur, but she made a further attempt to crawl. Grizzmon made to stab her when Terriermon flew in, green fire forming in his mouth. He fired it, causing Grizzmon to roar and stumble back. Terriermon wrapped around her neck and helped her crawl away. She coughed and gasped a thank you.

Terriermon dropped to the ground. "No thanks! We need to get those humans and get outta here before the rest of them smell this and get hungry!"

Nia coughed and nodded, making to stand. "Have to move," she mouthed, hands scrabbling shakily in the dirt. She didn't notice a light beginning to wrap around her skin, or that in her artificial eye, the symbol on her hands was starting to glow. "Can't die... can't..."

_It's not fair, why is it always like this, I won't let you take it away from me, no one nothing nevernevernever again, not like this-_

The light, which had been so gentle before, turned chilly and harsh, rolling out of her in wave after wave. Terriermon leaped to a tree branch, beady black eyes wide as saucers. Grizzmon was stumbling back, the lack of sense in his eyes clearing to sober wariness. Nia made herself stand, the light lifting her to her feet.

"Have to move, have to-" her voice seemed stuck on repeat, pupils blown wide in both eyes. Her hair, already a mess, flew about like a harpy's. Her eyes locked on Grizzmon, but before she could act, he lunged-

Only to be held back, rather easily in fact, by a small, pale hand.

The new arrival barely took notice of the struggling creature above his palm. His blue eyes fixed on Nia with a blaze that was rapturous, almost like love.

When he spoke aloud, however, his voice was utter calm, if tinged with hope. "Are you my Tamer?"

* * *

Kogure kept one eye on his monitor and the images of the bio scans, as he always did when there were emergences outside of the closest servers. Who knew what a lone child could get caught up in?

Not that he didn't trust Nia. She had responded to the early stages of the Digimon game better than many of the beta testers. What she had lacked in experience, she had made up for in knowledge every time. He just wasn't sure she could translate that to a real situation.

He looked up as the computer screeched a warning, and he turned to examine it. The bio signs of the three girls were growing fainter. One had been since they had shown up on screen, but the other two were falling.

Meanwhile, Nia's bio sign, a normal wave, had turned red and jagged, bursting up and down, as haywire as a frantic heartbeat.

If it wouldn't interrupt their flight, Kogure would have slammed down on the communicator for Yuji and Euno to hurry. The scientist in him was cheering, but the grandfather was seeing more dread than tea in his cup.

It had been quite a while since someone had last let out a  _Burst_  level of DigiSoul.

It had been before Tamer Union had even existed.

* * *

"Are you my Tamer?"

These words broke Nia from her stupor like a splash of cold water. She looked at the boy and blinked. "Uhm..." Not sure of what to say, she became suddenly aware of the tingling under her skin. She looked down at her hands and blinked again. The light was warm around her, but colored a dangerous red. What was this?

"Hey!" The boy's voice snapped her head up. "What's wrong with you? Do you know who I am?"

Nia rubbed her eyes. "Um… I…" The eyes were familiar, she didn't know how, but… "I…" Where did she know him from?

"We'll talk about it later," the boy decided, turning his eyes upon the Grizzmon, who was trying to reach his small body to no avail. "I need to get you out of here first." He glanced at the unconscious humans around the clearing. "And them, I suppose." Something in his tone made Nia shift in discomfort. He didn't want to just leave them to die, did he? He looked to the tree where Terriermon perched.. "Can you distract  _this_  for me?" He regarded the Grizzmon like recycling left on the grass.

The look on Terriermon's face was something akin to nausea, but it nodded, throwing himself off and releasing more tiny bursts of flame from his mouth.

The angel looked at Nia with that same rapturous expression. "You see that light around you?"

"U-hum, it-it's a bit hard to miss," Nia mumbled before she could stop herself.

The boy didn't seem to mind. "Good! You have to hit him with it. Considering how much that light is flowing out of you, even a slap will work! That'll convert him to data and stop him. Okay?"

Nia processed this and rapidly shook her head. "No, not okay, not okay! That-that thing will kill me!"

"No it won't!" He looked almost offended. "I'm gonna protect you, of course! Now, let's go! If we don't, your friends will die!"

 _They're not my friends,_ she wanted to say, but that didn't matter because she still didn't want them to die. Nia made herself nod.

"Then let's get started!" The boy's expression turned solemn and cold and he pushed the Grizzmon back like little more than a stuffed animal on a bed. It shook itself from its stupor and threw itself forward, almost dismissing the embers licking at its fur. Terriermon aimed to hit him with one ear but was knocked aside.

Meanwhile, light crackled around the angel's fingers, forming a spear, and before Grizzmon could look up, he threw. It sank into a forearm, pinning the bear through its claw. Nia jumped at the sound of the roar and almost stepped back. Could she do this? It was a  _giant bear_.

Then the angel glanced at her and jerked his head. "You'll be fine," he said, and threw another spear.

Nia shifted on her heels. Everyone always said that. It probably wasn't even true either. If it was, then she would be better.

"Stop thinking!"

She did.

Nia jumped forward, running to the side of the next spear. Grizzmon flailed, starting to scream. It knew, she realized. It knew what was about to happen, and she was going to be the one to do it. One swipe struck her forehead and blood obscured her vision. Lucky for her, she noted in some detached part of her mind, it wasn't the real one. She just kept moving. The light was waning and so was she. Being thrown into trees and clawed at (not to mention being shoved into a computer in the first place) was never exactly good for a person's health.

So she charged forward, stepping faster, dodging the rapid was a pained snarl and she ducked to the side. Her fingers scrambled for fur and finally touched a soft point at the neck.

The giant bear instantly went limp and it took all of her remaining energy to not fall over. She groaned and then the air shivered around her fingers. The red light swelled like a bruise, wrapping around the bear. The creature rapidly began to fade, spiraling into zeroes and ones that then made themselves comfy inside of the device at her neck until there was nothing left. With nothing to support her, Nia toppled over.

This, lucky for her, didn't seem to matter. She had already fainted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of my rare ending author's notes. What Ikuto is referring to is something referenced in the game. In DS (and Dawn/Dusk, I can't speak for the other ones at the moment) you tend to go to new areas by accessing different servers by obtaining their addresses (like web addresses) while in Savers, people can just walk from area to area. So my guess is that the Savers Digital World is all in one area/server, but partitioned somehow. I could be wrong though, I'm not going to claim understanding in the creation of hardware and software.
> 
> The reference to the Burst Digisoul refers to both the DATS agents and Kahara Shou in the NEXT manga. It's not going to be quite as nice as it was in the anime, though. Anyway, please read and review!


	4. That Feeling In My Chest Is...

In his travels around through the Digital World, Daimon Masaru had learned at least one thing: follow your curiosity. Not that it tended to lead him in the right direction every time he did, but there was always one of those adventure things and plenty of fights to win.

Though, right now, Masaru was wondering if following it was such a good idea. Agumon didn't seem intimidated by what they were looking at. That didn't really prove anything. Agumon was a bit slow on the uptake on this stuff. Unless it was a giant thing, he didn't tend to catch the hint. Apparently it being a large gap in the sky wasn't enough to freak him out.

"Boss, this thing reminds me of that Gate," his partner finally announced, stepping away from it. "Like… Mercurymon's Gate, or something."

"Shouldn't someone be guarding it?" How had the Royal Knights not seen this thing? It was pretty hard to miss.

Agumon sniffed. "But Boss, there's nobody here. Don't think there's ever been either."

Masaru groaned. True. He hadn't seen a single Digimon in three days. "Too much thinking. I'll try and get in contact with dad and Tohma, let them and their brains work on it."

"Think we'll get to punch anything?"

"We'd better. I'm sick of punching  _you_."

If it wasn't for the fact that it was a giant Gate he had never seen before, he'd have jumped in. It had been a while since he'd been home and all. That said... he still had to figure out why the Digimon were going wild again.

* * *

When Nia woke up, she instantly regretted it. Her muscles convulsed on her, recoiling at a finger twitch. Her body felt like a giant blob of pain. She coughed, and her throat protested like touching sandpaper together.

"Here," said a soft voice, one almost too close to her ear. "Drink up." She tried, splashing herself with most of it. Nia wanted more, aimed to get it, and passed out again.

When she awoke again, her bionic eye was gone. It was almost a relief. She began to shift. It still hurt, but it wasn't as bad as the first time.

There was a murmuring voice and she felt someone move. What are you doing? They insistently pushed her to lay down, but she resisted. She couldn't see through her hair and all of the voices sounded like nothing but babble.

Someone had her hearing aids. Did anyone know-

She stopped, took a deep breath, then exhaled. Only one way to find out. Nia raised her hands and made a slow, careful motion with one hand. The noise stopped and, concerned, she repeated the sign. It was still so hard to see…

A worn, old hand finally brushed her hair away, and really, she should have done it herself but the act of signing alone had made her arms protest. Her vision began to clear and she blinked. A wizened face peered at her and said something. She thought it could have been "there we are" but the Japanese was babble without her hearing aids. Regardless, she knew that face, surrounded by matted pieces of frizzy grey hair .

"Gr-Grandpa?" She thought that was what she had said, but it was hard to tell. Her voice was a rasp and irritated her parched throat.

Kogure's expression softened to a smile and a nod. She gingerly reached and tapped her ears. He opened one palm and reached over. Without thinking, she flinched, going still. It would never be comfortable to have anyone touch her ears. He turned it on and stepped away.

"Um… whe-where's the other one?" Nia winced at the sound of her own voice. She sounded horrible.

"Shattered against the ground when you fainted." Nia tilted her head to hear him as he added. "We are fixing it right now,. Hopefully we will improve on the design. Won't do you much good to lose them while you're here."

Here? Nia feels a twinge of pain in her head and it all hits her. "Where am I? And... Miyu and the others, those..." Had those actually been the Digimon before? Had she...  _hit_  one?

"Relax, lass." Her grandfather's head carded gently through her hair again. "They're going to be all right." Seeing Nia's eyes beginning to water, he sighed. "Perhaps it will be easier if these two are here to explain. Get Clavis," he called into the entryway. "It's all right to bring the lad here."

Nia blinked, then a little white blur darted into her field of vision. "Nia!" It squeaked, flapping tiny gold wings and scattering dust. "You're awake! They wouldn't let me see you! You should have told me that that DigiSoul was bad so I could have stopped you! Now you're stuck in this dumb bed!"

Nia rubbed her eye. This was so confusing. She just wanted to know what had happened to her Digimon pet and everyone else and if she could go home. Then she frowned. She knew this Digimon. It was that angel boy, no, before that even. It was her-

"Puttimon?" A little bunch of pixels on a screen that bounced up and down every feeding time or at the games she tried to play. It was the little creature Grandpa said "take care of".

Its blue eyes went wide. "You remember? You remember Puttimon?" Nia nodded and the little creature clapped stubby hands. "That was me! That was me, Nia! You finally know who I am!"

The sheer delight and hope on that face made her think she would have lied to keep the little fellow that happy. She reached up, careful to not jerk her still sore arm, and patted the cupid creature on the head. Then she looked to her grandfather.

Kogure seemed to relax. He paused a moment, as if wondering where to begin. Then he started to sign, occasionally glancing at the door. Nia almost wanted to tell him to stop, as his old hands made the movements look jerky and painful. But she was touched that he remembered, so she let him.

'The Cupimon before you used up all of his energy as Lucemon to keep you away from other Grizzmon. The other children with you are recovering fairly quickly and we'll be able to send them back home in a few weeks. We were lucky the rescue team found you when you did."

"Where are we?" Nia asked. He was taking way too long to say this, and she had no idea why.

Kogure sighed. "Where else would we be, dear? We're in the Digital World."

* * *

"Where's sis?"

Chika squirmed a bit under the curious stare of Nia's little brother. Ikuto tried to reassure her without saying anything, because if he tried, the kid would focus on him instead, and neither of them had an answer to his not-so-innocent question. This kid was a bit too much like a young Tohma for his own good, and unfortunately, Tohma and Relena were speaking to Nia's father and… boyfriend? Godfather? Nia had never managed to explain the relationship all too well without getting embarrassed. At least Tohma wasn't asking questions about it. Shinichi had his hand centimeters from Touya's fingers, but he didn't move it. His eyes were darting between Tohma and the phone.

"Is there anyway to get in contact with Nia-chan's mother?" Tohma was saying, expression as professionally blank as ever.

Shinichi blinked and then laughed. The noise was as half-baked as a freezer-burnt bread loaf. "Not for another few hours. Bridget keeps her personal phone off during work." He glanced at Touya, the man's face neutral. "You're certain all four of them are in the Digital World?" It was hard to keep the Digital World a secret  _now._ Everyone had seen it. Just because some people wanted to deny it didn't mean everyone did.

"A Digital World." Relena's voice was very soft and behind the counter, Tohma took his sister's hand. She didn't smile, keeping her expression sober. Ikuto watched her out of the corner of his eye. Was Tohma thinking of enlisting her? Then again, it was more likely Relena was trying to enlist herself and damn him if he tried to get in the way. "We have reasons to suspect there's more than one."

"Relena, that's classified." Tohma was trying to sound reproachful, but he only sounded tired.

"They'll know eventually," she said, brushing her blond braid back from her face. Ikuto really wanted to know what was in the Norstein tea that caused them to act five years older than they actually were in times of crisis. "You told me you were investigating Haruhiko Kogure-san's status." Touya twitched. "Considering his work was involved with ours, and Nia-san's disappearance was related to a Digimon toy, we could guess they are connected. Masaru-san has sent regular reports, and there have been no elderly humans in the Digital World you've been to."

Tohma sighed. "That's true, however..." He trailed off and turned his gaze to Touya. "Did your father ever talk about work with you?"

Touya brushed his black hair out of his face. "He filled Nia and Hiroki's heads with it more than mine." A rueful smile crossed his face. "I have limited understanding of computers but I tried to learn. What little he told me was certainly fascinating. The last thing he mentioned was an upgrade to the interface system for the game."

"Game?" Chika spoke up and caused the adults to turn. Hiroki tugged at her sleeve, having forgotten his question, and she let him take the legos from her hands. "That VR on?"

"Very same," Touya replied and Ikuto just stared between them. What were they talking about now?

"It's a test to find humans who can bond with Digimon," Tohma said with a small sigh. "It's a DATS creation, rather useful. The main issue was that the potential agents were too young." He glanced at Ikuto, who flushed. It wasn't like he had had a choice.

"It had a problem, a few years back," Touya mused. His eyes were thoughtfully resting on a picture hanging from the fridge. "The game almost crashed entirely. Father was investigating that when he disappeared. It was just after my Nia's accident, you see. It seemed too coincidental." He shook his head. "But I digress. We've considered tracing the source of the email he sent Nia, but seeing as it's the only one, it might not actually be from him."

Tohma turned this over. "I'll have to talk to Yoshino and the others before going any further." He gestured to Chika and Ikuto, who stood. Chika reached down and mussed Hiroki's hair.

"Don't worry," she said. "We'll bring Nia back soon, okay?"

Hiroki blinked and shook his head. He leaned up to her ear. "It's the papas I'm worried about," he whispered. "Sis is too stubborn not to come home."

Chika laughed. "True that. Don't play with her tablet, kay kiddo?" Hiroki nodded and Chika couldn't help but think of herself, looking at the solemn face.

"You big siblings are so much trouble," she said to Ikuto and Tohma as the group left the apartment complex. Relena giggled. Tohma, to his credit, looked mollified. Ikuto tried not to roll his eyes at her before glancing at Tohma.

"Can I have my Digivice back?" He sighed. "You're going to have a lot of work to do. The Digimon aren't going to stop coming through."

"Though why they're so aggressive in the first place is beyond me," Chika mumbled.

Ikuto smiled ruefully. "We could say the same thing about humans."

The air fell silent for a while, cut up only once by Tohma throwing Ikuto his Digivice.

* * *

Nia leaned onto her crutch as she limped down the path. A part of her wanted to gaze around at the fountains and clean sidewalk with wonder, gigging with fangirlish delight because this was _real_ , she was in another world.

The rest wanted to curl up into a ball and wish it wasn't.

Her hip twinged and she grit her teeth. By her shoulder, Cupimon floated nervously by her head. He wasn't nearly as intimidating in this form, but he never stopped looking at her or the entryway. He was decidedly unhappy she didn't have her toy -Digivice, she mentally corrected herself- on her person. She didn't even know how she had one.

_Well, it saves Chika-chan's father some trouble, I guess._

"Hey there, kid!"

Nia blinked, rubbing her empty eye socket as she looked down at the waving rabbit. "Terriermon!" She smiled a little.  _He's all right!_

"Heyo, darlin'!" He waved an ear at Cupimon. Cupimon's brisk nod was well, weird, but Nia figured if it liked her, it had just as many social skills as she did. So maybe seven. Not that Terriermon seemed to mind. "How you feelin'?"

"Sore," Nia said with a small wince. She also missed her other aid and eye, but Grandpa said the medics were fixing them still. She kept dragging her feet forward. "Why couldn't ClavisAngemon just come meet me?" She didn't even know who this guy was, and he was telling her to get from bed and join her. If Grandpa hadn't insisted, she probably would be resting again, or at least visiting the her classmates.

"Why are you so worried?"

Nia looked over at Cupimon. The little angel rubbed her cheek. It was an odd but not unwelcome sensation. She shrugged. "I don't know why I'm here. I got my classmates hurt and..." She bit her lip. "It just feels weird to be ordered about by someone I don't know."

"You're here to be my Tamer," Cupimon said, like it was that simple. "To be my Tamer and to have an awesome adventure. The one we could have had before you were taken away."

Nia frowned. This... this was what she wanted to happen, right? To meet her own Digimon, to find her Grandpa, this was what she wanted. But Miyu had been burned, Yumi and Aoi had been ripped like paper, and all for being with her, all for throwing the toy in the river...

She swallowed and continued to make her halting steps towards the room Clavis Angemon had said to meet her. Terriermon trotted ahead of her.

"Thanks for gettin' me outta there by the way," he said, starting to hum. "Hate staying in that bear happy zone."

Nia flushed. "I didn't really do anything. I dragged you into that battle."

Terriermon laughed. "One little fight is a stepping stone to life of freedom, friend. Don't worry your hair clips about me."

"My... hair clips?" Nia burst into giggles. "That's a silly thing to say."

"Well, I'm a silly guy."

Cupimon watched them. Then, in what was probably an impulse, landed on Nia's head. She shifted at the extra weight, but let it go. He wasn't heavy.

They reached a large blue-tinted room, four podiums obscured by light around her. Nia rubbed her eye. It was a bit bright in here. Couldn't they turn those spotlights down a little?

An angel decorated in red -that was probably Clavis Angemon- had his back to her and was deeply engrossed in the code on the screens. Nia wasn't sure whether to sweatdrop or say something.

She coughed. "Excuse me?"

He turned and a smile lit up his face. "Hello, Nia Scott," he said, his stance poised for a movement she didn't know. His voice reminded her of warmed cider and for some reason, that made her uncomfortable. She edged back, eyes on the large key in one of his hands. Cupimon floated up from her head, raising tiny fists.

The Digimon seemed to notice this, and his stance relaxed. "Ah. Forgive me. I am unusually paranoid. You have given our little organization quite a start."

"How?" Nia flinched and looked down. "S-sorry, just... what happened? I hit the monitor and my toy went crazy and pulled everyone in and Miyu got set on fire and-"

ClavisAngemon raised a hand to quiet her. "You may relax," he said. "Those girls are recovering nicely. It was not your fault what happened to them, not intentionality at least. Look at your hands."

Nia obeyed and flinched at the purple marks, like they had been drawn there. "That was on my toy."

"That is the Hazard Symbol." ClavisAngemon adjusted something, and the screen behind him changed, showing the symbol and a picture of Nia herself next to a wave. It was like a heartbeat. Beneath it was another line, this one bright red. "We haven't been able to determine how or why, but this power has rested itself inside of you. And Miyu, the girl who was in direct contact with you, was not chosen, and it rejected her."

Nia swallowed, feeling sick. She could almost feel it now, something in her bloodstream that paced with her heart. "It's why I'm, we're all here?"

"Yes." The angel looked sympathetic. "And until we can ascertain why, I'm afraid we can't send you back home."

Nia wilted. Cupimon shot her a puzzled look and she quickly smiled. She could understand how they felt, but... her parents.

"Which brings me to our next order of business." ClavisAngemon stepped towards her, holding out one hand. Resting on one palm was her bionic eye and the device that had been around her neck. "Would you like to become a Tamer?"


	5. I Won't Run Away!

"Ah, Nia-chan."

Yumi smiled at her, actually smiled, and that was the most unusual thing Nia found herself experiencing so far. Not even having something weird in her body was quite as bizzare as a tormentor being  _nice_ to you. Not that it looked too great, considering her face was bandaged, eye and all.

Nia dipped her head, feeling awkward. "Um... how are you feeling?"

Yumi smiled. "Well, it's kind of weird having your skin regrown, but other than that, I think it's not too bad, not like Miyu-chan anyway." She glanced at the bed on the far end of the room. The only movement from there was the rise and fall of the other girl's chest. Aoi wasn't moving at all, and that may just have been because she didn't want to acknowledge she was there.

Nia shifted with worry, and opened her mouth to speak. "Um…"

"Don't worry about what Aoi-chan said," Yumi interrupted. Her cheeks were somewhat pink and her eye was giving her hands a little too much focus. Regardless, she kept her small voice as steady as she could. "Aoi-chan really cares about Miyu-chan, a lot more than I do. It's why she helps pick on you. If she keeps going and can stay by Miyu-chan's side, she'll be happy. So seeing her burned like that after everything, I guess she thought it'd be natural for you to hate Miyu-chan and want her to get hurt like that."

Nia shivered. She wanted to say that she did, that just by being near her, Miyu ended up like this, that it was her fault. But she didn't understand what Yumi was trying to say. Was she saying to forgive them? To forgive the people who have made her life so bad at school and pulled her into this situation in the first place?

Yumi continued on, as though she somehow couldn't feel Nia's brain trying not to explode at the idea. "To be honest, I think Aoi-chan and Miyu-chan are pretty jealous of you. They always complain that you're against the way society works, but I think you're just you and they just don't understand how that works. So don't take what she said to you then personally. She's just scared."

 _Why did you help them?_  Nia wished she had an iota of courage with which to shout that.  _Why did you just stand there and let them get away with it? Why did you stand up for me?_

"I-I have to go," she blurted out, and bolted from the medical room.

Yumi stared after her. "N-Nia-chan…?" She sat back on the pillows and then giggled a bit, the sound hollow. "I guess I said the wrong thing again."

"Hmph." Aoi rolled over. "She's just a baby."

* * *

Nia stopped and took a deep breath once she was back in the center of the building complex. She took a few deep, slow breaths. Then she sighed. "Why would ClavisAngemon ask me to be a Tamer when I can't even stand up to a bully?"

Not that she had refused, obviously.

"That person didn't sound like she was hurting you."

Nia lifted the Digivice up around her neck and looked at Cupimon's puzzled expression on screen. "It wasn't that she actively tried to hurt me but she didn't  _do_  anything about it… it feels weird hearing someone try to justify being that way." She ran her fingers through her hair. "Or maybe she wasn't trying to do that, maybe she was just telling me… she stood up for me back then." She sighed. "I dunno anymore."

"It'll be okay, Nia!" Cupimon did a little mid-air somersault. "You're my Tamer, so I know you'll be fine. Only a super Tamer can handle me, so that means you'll find a way to handle anything that hits you in the face."

Nia scratched her head. She didn't quite understand that either. Still, she couldn't help but smile. Cupimon tended to cause that. "Thanks, Cupimon."

He pumped a little fist and she giggled. She still couldn't believe this guy had stabbed a Grizzmon and looked calm about it. He was this cute little thing now! "Nia!" He said, righting himself. "Don't we have to go see that big, weird angel today with your old man?"

Nia blinked. "Oh... right, Grandpa said I could register today." She rubbed her eyes. "Is there going to be a test or something?" She groaned at the thought. She wasn't really good at tests.

"Maybe it's gonna be something like punching a dragon!" Cupimon chirped, flying through the little space like a bee who couldn't find the pollen. "I've always wanted to punch a  _real_  dragon!"

"I," Nia ran her fingers through her hair again. She hoped it wasn't a dragon; she was still strung up from the grizzly bear. "I guess we'll just have to see," she decided on, and went to look around. Even though everyone said this place was built recently, it felt like it had been here for years, confusing hallways and all. "Though I wish I had a map."

"You found it the first time, you can do it again!"

Nia once again had to sweatdrop at her newfound partner's incredible cases of bias before beginning her attempt at finding the room she had met ClavisAngemon in days earlier.

As she turned a corner, she glimpsed someone fiddling with their Digivice. His brown eyes were furrowed in concentration. He groaned and she blinked, pausing midstep.

"Stupid thing... it's stuck  _again_!" He sighed. "So much for Agumon's dumb updates...Sorry guys, I'll take it up to him."

Six different voices groaned in unison and Nia frowned. "He must be strong. That's a lot of Digimon..."

Cupimon shook his head. "No, they're all pretty tiny, like me. I can tell. I could beat them in one shot!"

Nia sweatdropped. "You sure are confident..." Where did it all come from?

Cupimon burst from the Digivice. "Of course. I clawed my way to be strong so I could meet you again! Beating lots of enemies, I made my way to the top, just like you!"

"The top?" If she was on top of anything, it was the top of a heap of bills. She shifted, but decided not to disagree aloud. "Maybe he's got a better map than me." She took a deep breath. She could ask him. He couldn't be too bad if he had a lot of Digimon. The last game she had played... even the cheating players failed if they didn't play right, so...

_What are you so nervous about, idiot!_

If someone could still say kind things about bullies, act like they were normal, then was anyone a good person?

She slapped her cheeks.  _Don't be dumb. You know good people._ It wasn't like she was the best candidate for good anyway. Nia took another breath and stepped around the corner.

"U-Um... excuse me?"

The older boy jumped, but at the sight of her, his shoulders eased. "Geez, give a guy some warning before you speak up like that."

Cupimon snorted. "It wasn't like we were being quiet or something."

The boy laughed. "Hehe, you're a mouthy one, huh?"

"What'd you call me?"

Nia grabbed Cupimon to keep him from doing something dumb. "S-sorry about him... um, I, erm..." Come on, say the words Nia, say them. "I n-need to find a way to see ClavisAngemon to fulfill my um,..." How did Chika just  _talk_  to people?

The boy blinked and seemed to catch on. "Oh you just started here, didn't ya?" He clapped Nia on the shoulder and she let out a squeak. 'Awesome, I've got a junior now!"

"Uh, ummm..."

"Don't worry, i know where yer goin'!" He began to drag her along. "You've gotta meet your judge for the trial. It's pretty easy for anybody, jud' you wait an' see..."

 _He's sure talkative..._ Nia thought as he dragged her on.

She really wasn't good with these people.

* * *

Nia had never been so relieved to be alone in her life. That boy, who at some point had said his name, had run off chasing off a yellow dinosaur, shouting about his Digivice. Was that normal?

This place just had all sorts of strange people in it. She was going to be one of them. She had decided that.

Now she was standing in front of a door, regretting that decision.

"Aren't we going in, Nia?"

Nia swallowed and nodded. "Yeah... ye-yeah." She pushed it open and stepped inside. As she did, her hearing aids chimed gently with the movement of the doors. That much sound made her wince before she moved forward. "I-i... I'm Nia and I'm here to take my trial."

"Welcome." The voice resonated from her lower right and one of the pillars of light faded, reforming into a large blue dragon. Twelve orbs circled its large body, electricity sparking and spreading around the room.

Nia began to shy back. Maybe she was in the wrong room after all. Cupimon, however, was bouncing in the air.

"Look Nia! We do get to fight a dragon! Punch it! Punch it!"

Nia jumped and shook her head, waving her hands at the cupid. "D-Don't joke, Cupimon! I-i can't jump that high and t-try something like that!" It was  _sparking!_  That boy had said this wasn't hard at all...

The creature let out a booming laugh. "You two look pretty spirited for a child shaking in her shoes!"

Nia shifted, trying to subtly head to the door. "I-I... think i have the wrong room... I'm sorry..."

"You don't, Qinglongmon just likes to make a good first impression, I'm afraid." ClavisAngemon placed a hand on her shoulder. Nia jumped and Cupimon moved in the way, tiny fists raised. The angel laughed. "I apologize, you must be nervous." He stepped back, waiting until Nia relaxed against the wall. He chuckled at Qinglongmon. "You haven't lost your touch, it seems."

"Oh, but she didn't immediately flee the room like some of the other ones. She just thought about it." A couple of Qinglongmon's red eyes did a strange impression of a wink. "Good sign, I think."

Nia blinked, face turning pink.

Qinglongmon chuckled. "Now that the fun is out of the way, shall we get down to business? You're here to take your trials. Very well then!" One of the sparks above their heads exploded and Nia jumped back. She really,  _really_ didn't like all of the lightning. It could go away now,  _please_!

"Don't worry," ClavisAngemon soothed, trying not to laugh as he returned to his seat in the middle of the room. "He'll calm down. he just gets very excited when new ones show up. There's only thirty humans here, it's all so new and exciting for us."

"Y-Yes." That really wasn't comforting.

Cupimon huffed. "I can be flashy too!"

"T-The flashiest," Nia mumbled, taking a deep breath and managing to recover her air. She pulled him into her arms, clutching him like a stuffed animal. Cupimon looked ready to squirm, but abated, instead snuggling closer to her with a particularly smug look on his face.

Qinglongmon coughed. "Well then, I believe we've gone on enough. Shall we begin?" He watched her face, which shifted from fear to mere unease. "I am Qinglongmon, Overseer of the trial of a Tamer. If you so succeed, you will take your place with fellow Bronze. Are you ready?"

"Y-Yes sir!" Ah, there was the quick response, focused. Here was the courage. Good girl. She'd need it.

"Good. I'll keep this simple for you. To become a Tamer, you must show the Digimon your worth. Gain allies and get their respect. It's these basics that create a worthy Tamer. Win enough battles and give their data to your Digivice, and your Digimon will know what to do from there. Can you do that?"

Nia nodded. It was the first gesture she had given him without any hesitation so far today. "Yes!" She straightened as Cupimon beat his wings.

"That's the way," Qinglongmon boomed. "Your Digivice should take you to Data Forest. It's a good place to start." He flicked his tail. "Off you trot."

Nia was never so relieved to leave a room in her life.

* * *

Nia already liked Data Forest more than Steamy Jungle. Her reason: it wasn't  _nearly_  as hot.

Cupimon fluttered by her ears. "I used to live here," he said with a grin. "It was so much fun. Everyone was suuper easy! Cause they didn't have your power like I did. I felt you all the time and it was great!"

"Eh…." Nia was torn between tuning her excitable Cupimon out or listening. He made everything in the Digital World seem like so much fun. That was of course drowned out by the fact that her first hour there had nearly gotten her killed but, well, everything else was okay.

Maybe it was just Steamy Jungle.

"Help!"

… Okay, maybe not.

Cupimon balled little fists. "Fight! Fight!"

Okay, Nia really didn't remember Lucemon being this chatty. Though she'd only known him in that form for a day… she needed to focus now.

"Cupimon, how do I evolve you?" She tugged at her Digivice, fiddling with the four buttons as if it might help.

Cupimon blinked and shook his head. "Oh no, don't worry about that! I can evolve myself."

"Then why aren't you-"

"You'll see," he said and began to glow a dark red. Her body started to tingle, and her eye ached and his body grew larger, more human, more wings bursting into existence. The light faded and Lucemon floated beside her. The pride in those eyes mingled with concern and for a moment, Nia realized how desperately she needed air back in her lungs.

"You okay?" Nia blinked until she could see him clearly again before she nodded. Relief filed his face. "Sorry, that's why I'm not always Lucemon. Now that we're together, I'm drawing power from you that you're not used to. It'll get easier and then I'll be much stronger. But until then, we're just going to have to be careful."

Nia chewed on her lip as the scream for help came a second time. "Well, now we have to be fast."

Lucemon's arms wrapped smoothly around her middle. "That, I can do." He pushed off and took the air. Nia would have screamed but her common sense kicked in and she just watched in delight as the trees shrank before them and they flew over each totem pole into the sky.

Okay, maybe the Digital World wasn't so bad after all.

She really needed to make up her mind.

Lucemon didn't try for fanfare, Nia didn't think she could handle it anyway. He scanned the area with a sharp gaze, drawing up in a small pause. "Nia, be ready."

Below them a little blue blur was darting from tree to tree, running as fast as his legs could with a little white one clinging to his head.

Nia swallowed. "Got it." She couldn't see what was chasing the two of them, but she guessed it was well-camouflaged somehow by all of the green. She rubbed her artificial eye and let out a start. Her vision had changed, colors warping into blues and greens and whites. One white blob stuck out among the green and she covered her eye with her free hand so she could see. A tree rustled and she saw a club swinging through the branches, green limbs flickering into view.

"You okay?" Lucemon repeated.

Nia nodded slowly, waiting for her vision to return to normal in both eyes. Her hands were starting to tingle. "I think I saw what was chasing them. Think you can catch up?"

He snorted, and Nia almost felt a bit offended. It was like if Ikuto had snorted at her. "It's what I've been doing for years," he said. "Let's go!" He spun them down and Nia reflected that she really should be having motion sickness by now but maybe something in Lucemon kept that away? Well, she'd figure it out later. They touched down and he let her go. The blue Digimon (Gaomon, that was a a Gaomon, she had seen it on TV!) tensed, curling protective, injured arms around the other creature. At the sight of NIa's Digivice however, he relaxed a little.

"Tamer," he said, as the little creature flew from his grip. "Sorry, that nut is still chasing us."

"Can hear him," Lucemon muttered, turning back and raising both hands to glow.

"Sorry," Gaomon muttered. "I'd normally be able to get rid of something like that but I've been out here for too long today. Stubborn oaf."

The bushes rustled and Lucemon swung his hand in an arc. Golden light ripped the leaves to pieces and there was a grunt of pain. "Nia," he said. "Can you watch him for me?"

"F-For what?" Everything her grandfather had told her about fighting was that the Digimon would have better senses than her right now.

Lucemon, however, didn't seem to care. "You've gotta try. I'll be Cupimon a lot and I can't see as well as Cupimon, so you've gotta practice."

Well, she couldn't really argue with that, so she watched. A Goburimon stumbled out, a long red line visible on his torso. The little creature Gaomon had been protecting let out a squeak and fled into Nia's arms. Nia didn't think she was much protection.

Goburimon raised his club and swung. Nia shouted a direction and Lucemon jumped, dodging and rolling with a wince.

"Don't dodge like that!" She shouted before she could stop herself. "You have too many wings. Fly!" Her breathing was starting to catch.

Lucemon obeyed, spinning to grab the club. He succeeded in blocking it with one thin wrist. Then he kicked out. Golden light wrapped around his hands and feet as he dove, slamming into his opponent with a grunt. The Goburimon hit him in the face, but he barely noticed until the area exploded.

"Lucemon!"

He flew back to her at once, wings singed. "I'm all right. He's coming back for another shot." He turned, grabbing the larger fist. Then he drew his knee upwards and kicked. "Nia, grab him."

"But my Soul isn't-" it didn't even feel like she had any.

"You can do it!"

Nia swallowed and for the second time, moved towards the fight. It was easier now that she wasn't nearly dead and as she moved to grab Goburimon, do something, he swung his other arm and punched her in the stomach. She felt Lucemon bristle, but before he could get up, she righted herself.

Nia didn't know why, maybe it was the little smug gleam in its eyes, maybe it was everything that had happened so far. Whatever the case, all she could think of was how good it would he to break that Digimon's nose.

So she punched him as hard as she could, only noticing much later that the Hazard symbols on her hands were gently aglow.

He burst like a balloon popping, specks of data going into her Digivice.

Nia blinked, the urge to hit something draining away. "Um..."

"He was a lot weaker than you thought," Gaomon said, stepping closer to them. "Chasing us down for no reason, of course he was worn out. Are you all right, Culumon?"

The white creature had relocated to the hood of Nia's new sweatshirt, and now peeked up. "Yeah!" It waved a tiny hand. "Are you okay, culu?"

Gaomon managed a smile, blinking as Lucemon shrank down again, fluttering back to sit smugly on Nia's shoulder. "Mostly my pride. Anyway, that was a nice punch," he said.

Nia flushed. "I-i've never punched someone like that before."

"I could tell," he said with a grin. "But it was still a good one." He looked her up and down. She breathed slow, still winded from the hit to her stomach. "Why are you out here?"

"O-Oh!" She had kind of forgotten in the rush of someone screaming. "I'm taking my trial to become a Tamer so I need to get Digimon data I can handle."

"Like me," Cupimon supplied, waving.

Gaomon grinned. "Oh, we have ourselves a newbie, eh? Good! I work up at Central in the Battle Training facility. I'm going to teach you how to punch and mean it."

"R - really?" Nia felt a little worry over that. Wouldn't that waste his time?

Gaomon nodded. "Tamers have to be able to survive goin' in like you did or there will be who knows what kind of smear left in the dirt, you get me?"

Nia could only think of a car pileup and a long siren wail. "Y-yes." She raised her head and nodded at Gaomon. "Please teach me well!"

Gaomon's grin turned fanged as Culumon hopped away. "Then let's get started."


	6. I Hate This Pain!

Nia returned to DigiCentral hours later exhausted, but proud of herself. There were bruises where there had been recently bruised skin and an ache in her bones, but she clenched a fist and it didn't tremble.

"Whoa, look at you all beaten up."

Nia brushed her hair back behind her ears and smiled at Terriermon, face red from exhaustion. "Hi, Terriermon," she breathed, wiping sweat off of her forehead. "Gaomon was teaching me."

"Woo," Terriermon drawled. "Real glad that ain't me." He raised an ear. "You sure look happy though, guess it couldna been all bad…"

"I… the exercise felt good," Nia admitted. Cupimon let out a tired noise and didn't agree. She smiled at him in the Digivice and began cycling through the screens. "Mm… I got some Digimon data while I was out." She sweatdropped a bit, scratching her head. "Do you know what I can do with it?" It would have been nice if Qinglongmon had  _told_  her things rather than being scary.

"Use it for sustenance?" Terriermon quipped. Nia just stared at him, eyes wide. He shrugged his tiny shoulders. "What? Wild ones do it all of the time."

Nia glanced at Cupimon, who bobbed his head in agreement. "Is that what Tamers do?"

Cupimon shook his head no. "You need a Farm to do what Tamers do. They raise like, hordes of Digimon." He paused. "I don't think Digimon or humans like the way the other tastes. I've heard you guys are all... grainy or something."

Nia swallowed. She could almost picture an army of man-eating Grizzmon. "Can you bring that many with you?"

Cupimon shrugged. "I think the Digivice would get all crammed. That's what the farms are for, I bet."

Nia sighed to herself.  _Guess I need a Farm then._ She hadn't known she would be signing up to milk cows or something.

Terriermon pointed down one of the paths with his ear. "Go down thereaways." Nia thanked him and followed his directions, heading down said path. As she was about to turn the corner however, Terriermon stopped her. "There's sommat in your hood," he said. He leaped up and pulled out a sleeping Culumon. Nia blinked.

"He was still there?" She took him from Terriermon. "I didn't even feel him. He's so light and tiny."

Cupimon spun around her head, expression strangely downtrodden. Terriermon caught this and his little smirk widened to something like an amused leer, but more ridiculous. "You jealous, angel-pint?"

Cupimon turned up his nose. "I don't like his smell," he said as he crossed his arms. "It's all like flowers and cream and stuff."

Nia wanted to point out that those were all things that smelled  _good_ , but the pout on Cupimon's face made her change her mind. Instead, she smiled a little and went down to a building that make her think of a gaudy internet cafe, dark windows and all. She walked inside, Cupimon looking around in puzzled curiosity.

"Smells like plants," he mumbled.

"I should hope so," commented a voice from the counter. A bird, maybe some type of owl, waved one wing at them. "I create farms here, not cities."

"There are mechanical farms," Terriermon muttered and if the bird heard him, it didn't seem to care.

"You here to get your farm?" The question was directed towards Nia. She jumped and nodded. "Here, hand me your toy there." She obeyed, chewing her lip. He waved his free appendage. "Don't worry, kiddo, I'm just putting a new address in. You can fiddle with it when you get there."

That really didn't help ease her fears, but he was trying, she guessed.

He returned the Digivice with a jerky nod moments later. "There ya are. Head on out until you find a shiny purple portal. Take that and you're off to the farm. Luck to you."

Nia bowed hurriedly and scampered away, running to find said portal. Cupimon shot the owl a look before going after her.

Terriermon clicked his tongue. "She's really gonna need to work on this "social" thing some more, yeesh."

Nia stepped over the portal, still holding Culumon. She grabbed Cupimon as the portal burst to light and grimaced. She didn't think she liked portals very much. That was a good thing about the human world; you had to take transportation that didn't reorganize your molecules.

She landed outside of a building that kind of reminded her of a clean barn in books, except with tile. Culumon stirred as she looked around, and popped up. "Where are we, culu?"

Cupimon's eye twitched. "You're… you're asking that now?"

"I've been asleep," he said with a shrug, leaping from Nia's arms. "Ooh, it's a Farm!" He ran through the automatic doors. "Wow, it's all pretty and stuff! Can I stay here? It's boring at Central! Can I stay? I'm super good at Farm stuff!"

 _His tick is gone…_  Nia sweatdropped and thought it over. She didn't really mind; at least it'd be less likely he'd get hurt and he would probably follow her anyway. She smiled a bit. "I'm, well, I'm fine with that."

"I'm not," Cupimon muttered, glaring at the puffball, who just ignored him. He jumped up and down on his large feet.

"Yay, thanks! Lemme see your Digivice now, okay?" He snatched it before she could take it from her neck and ran back outside.

Cupimon let out a noise that probably would have meant violence if Nia hadn't grabbed him. "Let's give it a try… okay?"  _What is with this place and taking my Digivice?_

Cupimon glowered at the overly excitable puffball running through the grass, but then sighed. "If you want."

"Thanks." She gave him an affectionate rub to the head and he cooed.

_And here I thought he was scary…_

* * *

"Anything?"

Relena shook her head. "Masaru-san's report identifies a portal, but he doesn't want to jump through without you guys with him."

Tohma snorted. "Has he grown cautious in his old age?"

"It's more likely due to the very long and angry message Chika-chan had me send him." Relena let out a weary giggle. "She's still a bit mad he hasn't come home."

"Aren't we all?" Tohma caught her yawn. "Relena, go and take a rest. I can keep decrypting the files."

For a moment, she looked like she wanted to argue. Then a fresh yawn escaped her lips. "Please do, Onii-sama." She hugged him, rubbing her eyes. "I'm beginning to wonder how they get along with this many files in his system."

"Merits of being in a small department, I suppose. Sleep well." When her footsteps faded, Tohma reached into his pocket for a cable. "Gaomon?"

"Perfectly awake, Master."

"Good. Would you bring up Satsuma-san's video number on the other computer? I have a feeling we're going to need his access codes."

"Yes, sir."

Tohma continued his gentle typing on keys, murmuring to himself. "Have to question the man's ethical practices... why would you test possibly volatile, otherworldly technology on your grandchildren?"

"It didn't kill you," Gaomon noted, tapping his back foot against the chair.

"Noted, but after a traumatic accident, you would think the work would slow..." At the moment, he had managed a timeline of when Kogure had gotten involved and where. "I'm surprised the higher ups didn't mention him."

"We were worried about the backlash of revealing our active hunt for recruits."

Tohma turned to salute the monitor. "Sir."

Satsuma's expression was something between stoic warmth and wry exhaustion. "It's been awhile. Now, what did you need?"

* * *

Another punch, a kick. Nia stopped to catch her breath, but Lucemon swung. She managed to dodge.

"You can't just stop," he scolded, swinging again. "The enemies don't care if you're tired!"

Nia would have scoffed if she had the energy, but she only slipped to the side and aimed for his face. He dodged with ease and grinned. "Better." He devolved back to Cupimon and fluttered to her head. "Running time, Nia!"

She gulped air and went to obey. On the other side, Culumon was leading the baby Digimon Nia had gathered in circles. They certainly seemed to be enjoying this more than her. She let out a tiny sigh, aiming for some water.

Culumon stopped his waddling run and looked over. "Nia, someone wants to access the Farm!"

Nia stopped jogging and flopped in the grass. She doubted that Qinglongmon would come all the way here to talk to her. "U-Uhm… send them in." She closed her eyes and took deep breaths.

"Okay!" He ran to the doors and the baby Digimon followed like ducklings. When he came back, he was leading Yumi with a grin.

Nia sat up, puzzled. "Y-Yumi-chan." Her heart coiled with dread but she forced a smile. "You look better!"

"Yep." Yumi twirled, tapping a stitched shirt. "Everyone's all right. Miyu-chan and Aoi-chan are almost better too. Once they're all set, we'll be heading back."

"That's great!" Nia felt a real smile touched her face. She was glad they were okay after all of that.

Yumi smiled and for some reason, her eyes sparkled. She looked around. "This place is really pretty. Do you live here now?"

Nia shook her head no. "T-there's a dorm for Tamers… apparently I can't go home right away."

"Not that you should," Cupimon grumbled, shooting a look at Yumi as he fluttered into Nia's lap. Nia tried to shush him but Yumi only laughed.

"You're a tough guy, huh?"

Cupimon sputtered. Clearly, he hadn't expected that comment. Nia giggled.

Culumon let out a warning squeak. "Intruder alert, Nia! Intruder! They got through security!"

Nia scrambled to her feet as a small, black dinosaur sauntered into view. Cupimon crossed his arms, unimpressed. "Some security," he muttered. "A whelp like that can get in. What, none of that human software works here?"

Nia would have laughed if she wasn't so busy staring at said… short intruder. It seemed a little tough, and those claws… well, they weren't as bad as that bear's at least. "Can I help you?" For the first time in a while, she really heard herself speak. The usual accent, thick from multiple languages and multiple excursions, was not there. She hadn't noticed until now.

The dinosaur, already wearing an unpleasant sneer, bared his teeth. "Don' mind me," it grunted, trying to look menacing. Considering it only came up to Nia's chest, it really just looked angry. "I just wondered where all the noise was coming from."

"We weren't being that loud!" Culumon shouted. "We were training! And you're breaking and entering, you bully!"

"Bully! Bully!" The little Digimon began to clamor around their de-facto leader. The Digimon only let out a snort and opened his maw.

"Training, huh?" He grinned. "All righty, let's see if you can take one o' these!" A bright orange flame grew in his mouth. "Baby Flame!" The little Digimon shrieked and scattered, leaving the grass to burn.

Yumi jumped. "What are you  _doing_?" She ran to stamp the flames out, Nia going to soothe her agitated digimon. "You're destroying Nia-chan's place!"

The dinosaur let out a great snort. "Wouldn't have happened if they hadn't run away like some  _losers_."

Yumi's stance went stiff, coiling up like an irritated cat. "They're just babies," she said with a fierce gleam in her eye. "You quit picking on them like that!"

A green eye twitched. "I ain' pickin' on nobody! If you're so tough, you try me on for size!" He rushed her, one sharp claw raised. Yumi flinched back.

Nia moved between them, punching the dinosaur right in the snout. She drew her hand back with barely a wince, raising her fists. Her opponent -yes, she was fighting now, actually fighting!- stumbled back, jaw agape.

"You… g-get out!" Perhaps it was the surprise of moving so fast, or that she had managed to hit something all by herself to begin with, but Nia found her chest very tight all of a sudden. "Q-Quit attacking us and g-get out!"

The dinosaur glared, raising his claws. "You threatening me, girl?" He laughed. "As if you can take me, a seasoned BlackAgumon, with those puny hands."

"H-Hit you once," she managed and the glare would have set her clothes on fire if it could.

"It was a lucky shot," he fired back. "Come take me on in Training Peak, on  _my_ turf. Then you'll be begging for mercy."

He stalked away. Nia waited until he was out of sight before slumping. "That was really weird."

Yumi relaxed. "Kind of reminds me of Miyu-chan, actually." She knelt beside the trembling babies, who started to coo at the touch. "Are you going to go after him, Nia-chan?"

Nia blinked. "Um…"

"We're gonna go!" Cupimon's declaration came from three feet overhead, where he was spinning with delight. "Nia gave him a really great punch! Now it's my turn to send him flying! He's not gonna know what hit him!" He punched the air and Nia wanted to groan.

She  _had_  to have the Digimon with all of the enthusiasm.

* * *

The dusty wind of Training Peak caused Nia to let out yet  _another_  sneeze. Cupimon didn't seem to notice from his perch at her shoulder. He was looking around with curiosity.

"You'd think he'd stay somewhere in a place that didn't make your eyes water," he muttered. Nia hummed her agreement, not wanting to risk sand in her mouth. This place really was awful.

Cupimon left her shoulder, making to sniff out the BlackAgumon. "I really could use a better nose," he muttered. "This way, Nia."

Nia trailed after him, using one arm to cover her face. The wind was starting to go down, which was good. Still, they probably had to hurry before it picked up again.

Making it behind a cliff, they knelt, watching the wind go. "He must feel real tough," Cupimon muttered. "Living in a place like this… pretending to be a tough guy." Nia nodded, chewing on her lip. "Nia, let me take him alone, okay?"

"Are you sure?" Tamers and Digimon were supposed to work as a team.

Cupimon nodded, cherubic face twisting in anxiety. "He's a jerk, but if you hit him with your soul, he'll probably die." He shrugged. "And it'd be kind of bad for you to kill Digimon like that if they aren't attacking you or us."

Nia winced. "But I didn't when I punched him…"

"He wasn't taking you seriously," Cupimon said. "And you weren't trying to use your Soul. He was busy trying to make that chick barbeque." Nia's face fell and he smiled. "Leave it to me, Nia. I'm your partner. If I don't protect you, who will?"

She managed a smile. "Yeah, okay. I'll trust you." She paused. "You just want to break his jaw…"

"Hmph! Course I do."

When the wind relaxed, they set off again, reaching a large, steel door. Cupimon muttered something about weird level design as Nia pushed it open. Then he shoved her down when a fireball went streaking towards them. She hit the ground and coughed.

"Thought you guys would never get here!" BlackAgumon crowed from his vantage point. "Like my greeting?"

Cupimon glared and rose up, darting from point to point as a dark red glow pulsed over him. Lucemon reached his enemy with one sound kick. "Keep your filthy mitts offa her," he snapped. "And yer flames while you're at it."

Nia pulled herself to her feet with a wince as BlackAgumon laughed. He danced, dodged. A punch to the jaw. Lucemon twitched, dropping to the ground with light ablaze. Another belch of flame went soaring off course. Nia ducked and it crashed, scorching rock. Lucemon didn't even seem to notice.

Normally, this would have been Nia's cue to hide and wait. if this was a schoolyard fight, she would have, or run to get someone. But she was that someone. So if this got really dangerous,  _she_ had to do something about it.

This was bad.

Lucemon took a step back and another to the side, spinning and kicking at the dinosaur's snout. The Digimon rubbed it in something like surprise, then leaped. A grunt of pain, then Lucemon punched for the second time.

BlackAgumon screeched rage. "You cheat!"

"It's a fight, not ballet!" Golden light crackled around slender fingers and he threw, knocking BlackAgumon into a dinosaur snarled and shot fire. Lucemon ignored it. "You think you can beat me with flames like that?"

BlackAgumon forced himself down. "With claws like these, angel freak!" He swung and sliced, cutting thin, pink lines into Lucemon's skin. All Lucemon did was smile and punch him back again.

"Where's your tough talk now?" Lucemon moved closer. "Come on big guy, attack what's mine again. I  _dare_ you."

BlackAgumon sputtered, green eyes flickering with rage. Flames burst to life in his mouth and light picked up around Lucemon's fingers once more.

Nia made her way to the field. "Lucemon, stop!"

Lucemon stilled. "But Nia-"

"You beat him," Nia pointed out. She was shaking a little. She had forgotten until now: Lucemon were  _strong_. "You said I couldn't kill him. You can't either."

Lucemon hesitated, hands already going back despite his own protests. "But he tried to hurt you."

"I'm your Tamer," she said, reaching to rest her hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about any of that. It's dangerous."

Lucemon took a small breath, then exhaled, shrinking back into Cupimon with a grimace. "He'll pay if he does it again," he declared.

Nia pulled her partner into the Digivice and looked down at BlackAgumon. "Sorry," she said, shifting on her heels. "He can be kind of enthusiastic. Are, are you all right?"

The BlackAgumon stared at her, awestruck. Then his eyes narrowed. "You're making fun of me!"

Nia stepped back in alarm. "Wh-What, I… of course I'm not! He hurt you!"

BlackAgumon pushed himself up! "Yeah, and I was takin' it fine! But you had to stick yer dirty, human nose in! You humans suck! Always acting all high and mighty!"

"He was going to kill you!" For some reason, Nia felt her chest starting to burn. "Lucemon wanted to kill you! Did you want that?"

"I could take that angel twig!" He swiped at her and she blocked it, eyes wide. He glared. "You're a freak too, aren't you? You and your weirdo angel! Just a couple of high and mighty weirdos!" He pulled back, green eyes wild. "You get outta here! Don't let me catch you here again! I'll kill ya next time, I swear!" He stalked away, limping every few steps.

Nia rubbed her eyes. She wouldn't cry.

From meters away, someone let out a laugh. "Oh my, my, my, you're an unusual one, aren't you?"


	7. Because I Am Weak

"Oh, aren't you just a treat?"

Nia rubbed her eyes again as she turned. Cupimon was bristling. He launched himself towards the speaker, who dodged to the side with ease. "And your partner's excitable too! It's so cute!"

Nia squinted through the sand. "Wh-Who are you?"

A hand reached and grabbed her wrist. "Shall we get out of this messy area first?" Nia made to pull away but the grip on her wrist only tightened. "Come on now, that's not nice. You can't want to stay here with all of this dirt."

Nia squint glared. Like it or not, he had a point. She, with reluctance, focused on covering her eyes instead of punching in the face. And when did  _that_ become her response to things? She followed him out of the sand pit, Cupimon fluttering above her shoulder for easy access. He looked murderous and for once it wasn't cute.

Once closer to the entrance, the other let her go. He smiled through untidy blond locks of hair. "Oh, so you're cute and spunky and took down the bully of the peak!" He hummed. "This sounds perfect."

"P-Perfect for what?" Now that she was free, Nia made towards the exit with careful shuffled feet.

The boy grinned. He was more of a man, she realized. A high school student at the very least. "As a cute little trainee, of course!"

Nia swallowed. "For what?"

"You're cute," the blond said with a smile. She didn't like that look. "You must be real new then, to have not heard of me. You see," He moved closer and Nia stepped back again. And she had thought girls were the scary ones. "There are a couple kinds of Tamers here in this new world. There are those that like the slow way of doing things, with Clavis, there are those like me, who want to be strong, and then there's you. The sheep. You can pick whichever shepherd you want to follow right?"

"Nia is not a sheep!" Cupimon barked from where he was floating. "Nia, lemme hit him once! It'll only be his nose!"

The young man laughed. "Like you could even get close!"

Cupimon spat.

"See, she is a sheep because she's just following whoever says the best words." A grin. "But choosing my side would make her a wolf. I'm pretty good, you know!"

"Nia doesn't need you to get stronger," tiny voices called from the Digivice. "She's not your toy!"

Nia flushed with surprise and Cupimon looked smug. "That's right! Nia's going to be the best tamer and she doesn't need some busybody like you."

The blond looked taken aback, then his smile returned again. "Is that right? Well, why don't we let Nia meet one of my comrades and she can decide for herself, instead of you? Right?"

Cupimon bristled and Nia reached to pull him down. She needed to be able to run, and trying to drag him would slow her down. "I... I would rather return to Central." She kept her voice slow so he couldn't loophole. Someone was watching them. She could feel it.

"I would rather you didn't." He raised his Digivice and within seconds, a large shadow loomed over her, red horn sparking blue. "See," he continued. "I don't like muscling my way through this sort of thing. It makes it hard to train people like you. But I will."

Nia tensed and turned around. A giant beetle. After seeing the dragon with twelve eyes and nearly being killed by a grizzly bear, it was a lot less intimidating. Still! It wasn't fun to look at! It was big! And tough looking!

Maybe she could slip under it and make it to the portal…

"Come on now," he said as the large beetle gnashed its teeth. "I'll only get violent if I have to."

"Oh really." Someone said from behind the giant beetle. "Kain, I've always thought violence was your style any day."

"Kain's" smile slipped from his face. "And I thought you weren't the type to stick your nose in other people's business, Yuji."

Nia looked around and Yuji laughed. A large dragon soared over them and someone leaped down, punching Kain in the face. As Kain stepped back, cursing, Nia stared. She looked down at Cupimon.

"Can we try that sometime," she whispered, then froze.  _I actually said that…_

Cupimon only beamed. "Yeah!"

Nia sighed. he wasn't helping her at all. The grey dragon flew over her head and clawed at the beetle's mouth. It grimaced (she thought it did, it didn't have a face!) and raised one arm to squeeze around the Digimon's torso. it ducked from this, knocking the Digimon to the side.

Yuji grinned wider, bouncing from one foot to the other. "Come on Kain, you wanna go? You know how hard I hit. Think you can take me by yourself?"

Kain glared and Nia thought he was going to rush anyway. Then he stepped back. "Suit yourself, Yuji. You'd be a real fighter if you weren't so boring." He looked at Nia. "The offer's on the table anytime, cutiepie." He raised his Digivice and vanished, taking the giant beetle with him. Yuji slowed his bounce, turning to Nia as his partner soared to land behind him. "Hey there!" he said, grinning. "I know you. You caused the old man all that fuss! I'm Yuji, you all right?" He held out a hand and Nia shook it. His voice sounded muffled. She hoped there wasn't sand or something in the hearing aid.

"Nia," she replied. "And yes, I-I'm fine. Thank you. How did you…" She trailed off.

"Punch him?" Yuji scratched his head, throwing his dark hair out of his face. "Cyberdramon and I had to practice him dropping me and me not breaking my neck for months. He's still not happy with it."

"You land too hard with your knees," the dragon grunted. Cyberdramon sniffed at her. Cupimon raised his tiny fists and was casually swatted back into Nia's grip.

Cupimon glared. "i could evolve and throttle you."

Cyberdramon snorted. "Please do."

Cupimon scowled but Nia tugged on one of his wings. He settled back with a scoff. Nia scratched her head. "Sorry, he's protective."

Yuji shook his head. "Nah, 's all right. They're always protective. That's what makes our Digimon great. Besides, Kain's a piece of work." He paused and looked towards a cliffside. "And so are you. Nice of you to leave your friend there high and dry there, Tomomi-chan."

No one answered for a moment. Then a small rock tumbled from above and a girl stepped into view. "I really don't like the way he handles these things. Big mouth, big head, you know how it is, don't you Yuji?" She toyed with a lock of purple hair, smiling through it.

"Eh, you can't prick mine with a pin." Yuji shifted over, shielding Nia. To her own surprise, this made her eye twitch. So she was nervous. She knew how to punch things now. She could protect herself at least a little bit now that the giant death beetle was out of the way. The girl jumped from her perch, only to be caught by a tentacle. She stepped over to him and smiled. "Sorry about Kain, he's a bit handsy, right?"

Nia felt her face heat up. "Well…"

Tomomi winked. "His offer does still stand, but if you don't like him, you can always work with me."

Yuji rolled his eyes. "You just can't resist, can you?"

She tossed her hair back. "Everyone needs to make a living, Yuji. See you later." She turned and headed back towards the storm, a shadow slithering after her moments after.

Nia watched her go, looking puzzled.

_Have I… met her before?_

* * *

Days later, Nia found herself collapsed on her back, and not for the first time either.

Yuji grinned, slipping to a loose position, hands in his pockets. "Not bad, you almost gave me a nice shiner there."

"But you dodged," she wheezed, making herself sit up.

"Course I did." He helped her to her feet. "You can't just let yourself get hit unless it works in your favor."

She shook her hands, grimacing. Couldn't argue there...

Yuji regarded her with concern. "Aren't your friends leaving today?"

Nia shifted. "Yes. I believe so."  _They're not my friends._  Never mind that Yumi came to the Farm every spare moment she had. Never mind that the Digimon adored her. She hadn't seen the other two in forever and she wasn't missing them.

"I'm still training," she hedged. "And besides, it's my fault they were in this mess to begin with."

"The Hazard chose you, it's not like you chose it," Yuji said. His voice was somewhat scolding. "Either way, if you really think you're the reason they're in pain, it's on you to make things better, isn't it? And it's on you to see things through to the end, isn't it?"

Nia chewed on her lip. Cupimon fluttered to her. He hadn't been Lucemon in days, and she felt all the stronger for it. "Nia?" He placed his tiny, white hands over her outstretched palm. "You should always show your enemies when they've won."

 _But have I won?_ She smiled grimly. She didn't think she had. She still couldn't return home. "Yeah, Cupimon. I understand."

"Atta girl." Yuji clapped her on the shoulder. "You've been getting better. You should talk to the old fogey dragon too. He can stop cackling at his storms and get you a job! I mean, farm quests are good, but they won't get you out there that easily ya know. So be insistent."

Nia nodded and the Digimon bounced and waved at her. It should feel good to have their approval. But it didn't. Her heart thudded in her mouth.

What would happen when she saw them? Probably nothing, just awkward waves and solemn words while they refused to look at each other. Aoi and Miyu wouldn't try anything in public here, and not after seeing she had monsters that could kill them.

She let herself be pulled through the portal and nearly bumped into Terriermon. "Hello!" She broke from her thoughts. "What's going on?" The beast's ears were up and he was staring towards the meeting hall. "Did…" Nia tensed. "Is someone hurt?"

"Someone busted the portal machine," he finally said. "The one to the human world."

Nia blinked. "Someone  _what_?" Someone broke the machine that could eventually get her home? How? Why?

Terriermon shrugged. "No idea."

"Nia-chan!"

Nia almost groaned aloud. Yumi was leading the other two over. Miyu limped, eyes on the floor. She tried to smile. "Yumi-chan, everyone…"

"Ain't the portal this way?" Aoi wasn't looking at her, glaring at everyone else that moved.

"The portal's busted, lady," Terriermon said. "Some idiot came through and broke it."

"What kinda-" Aoi swore and Nia took solace in the fact that she knew a better swear word. "Are you telling me we're all  _stuck here_?"

 _Welcome to my life,_ Nia thought to herself.

Still, she had to wonder, who or how would someone destroy the portal?

* * *

Masaru really wanted to punch something.

To be fair, he preferred solving most of his problems by punching or beating them into submission. It was just easier and faster. But he couldn't punch his way out of here. Not when there were plenty of tough Digimon that could accidentally hit or kill a human the second it got rowdy.

Which sucked. He needed a good fight.

Tohma and the others would tell him that train of thought was the reason he was in this situation.

Oh come on, he had just been training with Agumon. How was he supposed to know his Digivice would go off? Which is what it did! It glowed and he thought he was being attacked. Next thing he knew he was being dragged somewhere. And if someone's supposedly kidnapping you, what do you do?

That's right, you fight back and try to get away.

Not that it helped, he just broke the machine that would send him back in the first place.

Hence why he was now tied to a chair.

There was a dragon watching him, or, well, not watching him. The Cyberdramon was in the room. It probably could have been asleep and he wouldn't know. He doubted it was though. He hadn't fought a Cyberdramon in a while. They were tough.

Okay, focus.

Tohma's last message had said a girl had gone missing, along with all those other people. But the girl was related to a missing DATS scientist, which meant if he found her he'd probably find the scientist, which meant he could get the source of the problem.

if he did that, they could figure stuff out and get back.

But that would involve patience. He didn't know if he had enough of that.

"Hey!" He said to the Cyberdramon. "Did a girl end up in this place recently? A few years younger than me? Wasn't supposed to be here? Stuff got messed up?"

Silence.

Masaru racked his brain. He was really bad with names. It was annoying as hell sometimes. "Girl's name was… Nia, I think?"

More silence. Then the swivel of a chair from the next room. An elderly man limped into the room. "What do you know of my granddaughter?"

Masaru grinned widely.  _Now_  they were getting somewhere.


End file.
